REDBRICK NEWS SECTION

STORY: Researchers bond with New Molecular Sciences Building

WORDS
376 words Main body
104 words Side panel
480 Words

Author: Dylan Morgen, writing name (Dylan Gibbons)

14th October 2023

Comment
I believe the piece is well balanced, I have included a lot of positive material from the UoB and
Morgan Sindall Construction briefings, which promote their self-interests.
My suggestion is of a side panel, showing one student’s experience in the construction of this
building. This is relatable to student readers, who may find the buildings topic dry and uninteresting.
A picture of Haripreeth would draw the eye of the reader into the side story and hopefully
motivate them to read the main story.

A second picture I think would strongly enhance the piece, maybe from the aerial video,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tpn6T9mbf0
would further draw students into the main story and provide a visual interest, even if the reader
does not necessarily read the main story, which has a technical flavour.

There is a great interest from students in environmental issues and I have focussed the piece on this
area. I think it is important to mention the previous VC, because the building was created under him,
the present VC has inherited the creation.
Similar to considerations for the TEF downgrade from Gold to Silver, where a large part of the TEF
assessment period fell under the previous VC.

I think it was important to contrast the environmental rating of the building with similar University
buildings, to explore the statements made by UoB. I have balanced mentioning 4* and 5* University
buildings.

Also important to state that environmentally it is likely to be a good thing to move out of the
environmentally unfriendly present Chemistry building. Given time, it would have been useful to find
out what is happening top the old Chemistry building.

Additionally I did not have time to check if there was an overrun in the budget of the original £57
million.

UoB may want to have the opportunity to comment on this

===========================================

(rough suggestion)
Researchers bond with New Molecular Sciences Building

The new £57 million five-storey University of Birmingham (UoB) Molecular Sciences
building, housing over 500 Chemistry, Environmental and Biomedical researchers, opened
on the Edgbaston campus on the 4th October. The building is next to the Biosciences and
Teaching & Learning Buildings.
An attractive aerial video shows the nearly completed building from different perspectives.
The building has rooftop solar panels, a biodiverse green roof and an air source heat pump.
It contains 175 fume cupboards and MRI and NMR analysers.
The Estates Director Trevor Payne explains that common areas are designed as “collision
spaces” where researchers bump into each other, which sparks conversation, research and
where the best ideas can happen.
The 2 year project was led by Morgan Sindall Construction who employed 11 unemployed
workers, invested 312 volunteer hours and hosted 12 work placements, one of which was
the UoB postgrad student Haripreeth Iyer. (see side panel)

Morgan Sindall Construction also built the Collaborative Teaching Laboratory and the
Business School extension, both with energy performance certificate (EPC) A ratings. The
Birmingham Associated Architects practice provided the design, as they had done for the
UoB Engineering, New Library, Old Gym buildings and Lapworth Museum of Geology at UoB.
Globally, the built environment is responsible for 40% of carbon emissions. The project
saved 358 tonnes of CO2 from the original design. Using cement alternatives for the
foundation constituted a large part of the saving.
The previous Vice-Chancellor Eastwood approved the construction with a planned BREEAM
environmental rating of 4* out of a maximum of 5*. UoB calls the 4* “a notable rating given
high specification laboratories typically have higher operational energy requirements due to
the nature of research.”
Morgan Sindall’s has stated: “sustainable labs are possible, we delivered the UK’s first
carbon neutral lab”, which is the 5* carbon neutral 2013 laboratory at Nottingham
University. The Cambridge University MRC Toxicology Labs were refurbished in 2021 with a
4* rating, the Exter University Environment and Sustainability Institute received 5* in 2014.

The Chemistry Department has said it is moving out of the 1973 Chemistry Haworth from
which had a poor “E” EPC rating in 2017.
The Molecular science building is only the first building in a series of four to be constructed
as a complex at the same site.

==================================================================

(SIDE PANEL STORY) CIVIL ENGINEERING STUDENT HARIPREETH

Haripreeth was a Civil Engineering and Management international Masters student in
2021/22. He noticed the Molecular Sciences construction project and asked if he could go
on a site visit, which he did with others. Subsequently he was offered a 15 hours weekly
paid placement for 6 months while he continued his full time studies. He appreciated the
inclusiveness and friendliness and worked with the quality inspection, external façade and
internal services team. He said the communicating opportunities he had was the most
useful and exciting thing in his internship.
Similarly Shiv Takkar, on the same course, called his 6 months placement an invaluable
experience.

suggest a picture would look very good with the side panel

=======================================================================

ROUGH REFERENCES BELOW

20 Main story here

https://www.morgansindallconstruction.com/news/haripreeth-iyer-a-six-month-student-
internship-in-birmingham/
21 Video of Hari
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5EexvzfZBY

====================================================================

1 Press release 4th October

https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2023/new-sustainable-molecular-sciences-building-
will-foster-cutting-edge-scientific-research

2 nice aerial shots

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Tpn6T9mbf0

3 estates director nice visuals

bump points interesting
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvUiVRClP9s

4 Large electronic book

https://insights.morgansindallconstruction.com/story/molecular-sciences-a-world-class-
research-hub/page/2/4
(5) in ref (4)
Low Carbon Construction section
Ref (6) in in ref (4)
Low Carbon Construction section

special
great environment
aspiration top 50

Ref 7
5 storey
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), mass spectrometry, chromatography, and magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI).
https://www.morgansindallconstruction.com/news/molecular-sciences-visitors-centre-
officially-opens/
Ref 8

https://www.constructionenquirer.com/2021/03/11/morgan-sindall-confirmed-for-57m-
birmingham-uni-lab/

Ref 9
Notes for editors
The building will be EPC A-rated and designed to a BREEAM excellent standard; a notable
rating given high specification laboratories typically have higher operational energy
requirements due to the nature of research.
cycle parking store with 23 spaces
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2022/state-of-the-art-molecular-sciences-building-tops-
out

Ref 10
planning proposal BCC, The proposed development would meet the criteria for an
“excellent” rating in sustainability, the second highest rating, according a planning report
environmental pre-assessment.
https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/new-chemistry-environmental-
science-labs-18357204

Ref 11
BREEAM standard
https://bregroup.com/products/breeam/how-breeam-works/#:~:text=A%20BREEAM
%20assessment%20uses%20recognised,criteria%20from%20energy%20to%20ecology
Ref 12
31 Jul 2013 13:06:05.623
The University of Nottingham has been awarded a BREEAM Outstanding rating for its Energy
Technologies Building –making it the first laboratory in England to achieve this.

https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/pressreleases/2013/july/outstanding-nottingham-
cements-its-place-as-sustainable-building-trailblazer.aspx

Ref 13
EXETER Outstanding 2014
maybe smaller
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/esi/pdfs/An_outstanding_building-
_a_BREEAM_case_study_FINAL_3.pdf

Ref 14
UCL 2022 (NOT LABORATORIES)
life-sized simulated environments, such as a train station or high street,
https://www.volkerfitzpatrick.co.uk/en/news/detail/volkerfitzpatrick-delivers-uk-s-first-fully-
fitted-breeam-outstanding-building-under-new-guidance

Ref 16
Cambridge 2021, refurb Excellent
MRC Toxicology Unit
https://www.environment.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/breeam-environmental-rating-excellent-
confirmed-complex-lab-refurbishment

Ref 17
Excellent
https://www.keele.ac.uk/study/facilities/attenborough-labs/

Ref 18
Built over four storeys, with a gross internal floor area of 5,000m2 its cutting-edge design
comprises medical teaching facilities on the ground and first floors with teaching laboratories
on the first, second and third floors, while at ground floor level, a catering outlet is planned
for the benefit of staff and students.
https://www.summers-inman.co.uk/summers-inman-secures-another-major-higher-
education-project/
teeside university outstanding

Ref 19
Associated Architects
https://associated-architects.co.uk/project-sectors/universities/
Ref 20
EPC
Chemistry West
https://find-energy-certificate.service.gov.uk/energy-certificate/0095-9413-0111-1400-8663

Ref 21
In 2023, the School of Chemistry will move into the new Molecular Sciences building. This is
currently the largest building project on campus and will house world-leading research
laboratories alongside purpose-built working spaces for undergraduate and postgraduate
students.
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/chemistry/index.aspx